


The Losers' Table

by ElinorBlack



Category: Stargirl (TV 2020)
Genre: F/M, Pre-Canon, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-11
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:35:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25836595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElinorBlack/pseuds/ElinorBlack
Summary: Before Courtney Whitmore joined Blue Valley High School the other soon to be heroes shared a lunch table and while they weren't exactly friends, you can't help but get to know the people you sit with every day, even if you barely say a word to them.
Relationships: Beth Chapel/Rick Tyler
Comments: 5
Kudos: 35





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> First fanfic for this fandom, and thanks to the hournite discord as it inspired me to actually write one of my ideas down rather than it just living in my head.

Blue Valley High school was definitely a new experience for me, while it wasn’t too bad because I’ve known all the kids in my year since kindergarten there did come a great new challenge, the cafeteria.

Choosing a table held far more significance than it really should in her opinion, but your table helped with your friendship group and while Beth already had her parents as her best friends they also said it would help her to maybe get to know people closer to her age.

The cafeteria was already filled with students moving around creating such a noise that it took me a second to recalibrate. After readying myself at the entrance I walked in already on the lookout for a place to sit.

As I approached an empty seat I was abruptly stopped as someone else quickly took it just before I could get there. My other options were to go to another table and ask if they were ok with me sitting with them, but after a few tries, it was revealed that everyone seemed to be saving the seats for a friend.

I was starting to worry that I wouldn’t be able to find a seat and then I really would be struggling with what to do, but just before I could start panicking I saw an empty round table bar one person, so I quickly made my way over.

As I neared the table I realised that it was Rick Harris sitting on his own and I realised why in this busy cafeteria this person had managed to keep a table to themselves. Now I’m not one to believe in rumours but at their age, you still hear them, even people like me who don’t have people to gossip with them. I had heard all sorts of things about Rick even from my parents, how he had all these issues and how his father was the town drunk, but I didn’t know him and was never going to if I kept standing here instead of sitting down.

“Hey,” I said as I reached the table,

“Mind if I sit?” Rick looked up at me in what appeared to be slight shock but after a few tense seconds where I feared he would turn me down and I would have to resort back to my seemingly endless quest to just find a seat, he gave a small nod and I happily smiled at him as I pulled the chair out

“So how are you?” I asked as I began to take my lunch out of my bag that I had prepared for both me and my parents the night before.

Rick gave me a slightly wary look before he replied, with a curt “Fine.”

It appeared that Rick Harris was not one for conversation she learnt after a few attempts at conversation were shut down by his short answers and no questions back, she was used to that not many people liked to talk as much as she did and she knew that she could sometimes be too much, so she finished the rest of her lunch quietly.

When the bell rang Rick quickly made an exit as she slowly rose out of her seat on her way to the next class, happily acknowledging people as she passed them.

Thus began her highschool lunchtime routine, she would make her way into the cafeteria smiling at people before heading to the only round table in the room, the only person ever there being Rick Harris who she would greet with a smile and a question of how he was and she would receive a quiet “Fine” in response and that was their only interaction.  
Sometimes she would eat lunch with her parents if they weren’t too busy and she’d sometimes catch Rick looking over at her but if she ever went to meet his eyes he would quickly cast them back down at the table.

Now she was very smart her G.P.A would tell you that but what her school reports couldn’t tell you was that Beth Chapel was observant, she knew how to spot the little details most people glanced over, which is how she found herself bringing extra lunch every so often.

They’d been at the table for about a month so it was now officially their’s the ‘singles table’ as she liked to refer to it as, for the people who didn’t have a group to belong to this was the table for them, which presently just included Beth and Rick but she was okay with that. They had their small greeting and he never complained about her conversations with her parents, or make fun of her for which she was grateful. But she heard the whispers, people calling them the ‘losers table’ but that was ok because she had her parents and she didn’t need anyone else. 

But it seemed that Rick did, on the days that she didn’t videochat her parents it allowed her to observe Rick and she was slightly worried. Rick never seemed to bring food with him or have money to buy food. He would just sit there in silence staring at his hands only giving her his standard “Fine” at the beginning of lunch before he quickly took off as soon as the bell rang. She and Rick weren’t friends by any standard but she cared about him, but they were bonded by the simple fact that no one else would sit with them.

So one day she brought an extra container of food, nothing fancy, just some pasta and chicken that she’d also made for herself and her parents. This had to be strategically planned as she assumed Rick wouldn’t just accept the food at face value, so she had a plan.

She made sure to do it on a day where both her parents were in meetings so they wouldn’t be on a videochat which could give away her slight lie in order to get Rick to eat the food.

They did their usual routine of her greeting Rick and his short reply, it was when she sat down she put her plan into motion, she hoped this went well, she wasn’t exactly the world’s greatest liar. As she pulled her own lunch box out of her bag she said “oh shoot” which caused Rick to briefly glance over at her. As she put her own lunch on the table she placed the other box next to it and said,

“Hey, I know this might sound a little strange but I’ve accidentally packed both my lunch and my mum’s and this food isn’t going to keep long enough for her to have it tomorrow for lunch so, would you maybe like to have it.”  
“I wouldn’t want to inconvenience you.” was his reply.

“Oh no you wouldn’t be at all, in fact, you would actually be helping me as I wouldn’t have to carry all this extra weight home with me,” I said while slowly pushing the food closer to him.

Rick was silent for a few seconds before slowly nodding and taking the food. She couldn’t help the grin that spread over her face at the look of satisfaction on his face after he tried her food for the first time. They ate in silence for the remainder of lunch until she heard Rick almost silently mutter a small “Thanks” as he pushed the now empty lunch box towards her, before standing and leaving the table. She smiled to herself and thought that there was definitely more to Rick Harris than what most people could see.

That’s how it went for the rest of the school year, Beth every so often accidentally taking one of her ‘parents’ lunches or bringing an extra piece of fruit or snack that as she explained to Rick she simply couldn’t finish and didn’t want to waste. She made sure not to do it too often as that would rouse suspicion but she made sure to bring him food at least once a week and if Rick noticed he didn’t let anything on. They still didn’t talk aside from the greeting but for now, as she watched him hungrily eat the apple that she had given him because ‘she’d somehow managed to pack two that day’ she thought, this was enough.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yolanda joins the table.

Her and Rick’s routine rarely differed throughout the entirety of freshman year, only an occasional detention from Rick or Beth meeting with a teacher, but the fact remained that it was always just the two of them, but that changed about two weeks into sophomore year.

She felt awful for poor Yolanda the entire school had seen a picture that was shared in privacy and with trust, and just like that Yolanda Montez changed entirely.

Beth had been one of the few not to receive the picture, obviously not ranking in the perpetrator’s head as important enough, and for that she was grateful. But, she knew what had happened, how could she not, it was all the school could talk about and like she said she was observant, which was why she was worried about Yolanda,

Gone was the easy confidence and the openness of who should have been the class president, replaced with a quietness that was born of defence not will. Yolanda used to draw the eyes of a crowd because a smile from her could help make you feel good for the rest of the day, but now the attention was one of mockery, so Yolanda retreated into herself in the hopes of not being seen.

Part of her retreat into the unknown was her move to the ‘losers’ table’ as it was now officially dubbed, the lunch had started off, as usual, she and Rick exchanged their greeting she gave him the extra sandwich she and brought and they had been eating in comfortable silence when a tray was gently placed down onto the table.

“Hey,” Yolanda said softly “do you mind if I sit?”

“Of course!” I respond quickly, remembering my own fear of being rejected just over a year ago. She glances at Rick who gives a small nod which she takes as a cue to take the seat.  
She’d barely been sat two minutes before Yolanda was being hounded by her ex and his friends. Now Beth Chapel was not a girl who judged too quickly or harshly but given the nature of the photograph and her previous relationship status with Henry King the logical answer was that he was the one who shared the picture.

That appeared to not be enough for him, he just had to rub salt in the wound, he had not just destroyed Yolanda’s reputation but her personality as well, yet he still found the need to make her feel inferior to him. 

Before anyone could get a word out a bottle of water had been tipped over Yolanda’s jumper and Beth heard one of Henry King’s friends say “You going to take off your top for us slut.”  
Beth was in shock that someone could be that cruel and Yolanda looked like she was close to tears but before anyone could do something to help her his other friend spat out “Why it’s not like we all haven’t seen it before.”

And with that final jab the group decided to move on from their small table, Beth glanced over at Yolanda who seemed to be trying her best to ignore what had just happened.  
Beth realised that she had just put a new packet of tissues in her bag this morning, thank God for small mercies right. So she took them out of her bag offering them up to Yolanda.

“Here,” I said, “for the water on your jumper.”

With a small mutter of thanks that oddly reminded Beth of the first time, Rick had accepted her food Yolanda took the tissues and began dabbing at her jumper.

“I’m sorry they said that to you, no one deserves that, especially not someone they care about,” I say as I try to offer her some small comfort.

“Why it’s not like what they said wasn’t true, everyone in here has seen a very private photo of me and now I can’t look anyone in the eye knowing they have seen me like that when I didn’t choose to show them.” all of Yolanda’s thoughts came rushing out which judging by the surprised look on her face she clearly hadn’t expected to say to these two near strangers.

“I don’t know if this is of any comfort to you but I haven’t seen it,” I say attempting to sound comforting.

Yolanda looks up at me in surprise looking at me with eyes full of such hurt, that my heart breaks for her. I'm about to say something else when from the side of me I hear Rick add, “me either”.

When Yolanda looks between the two of us I see a brief glimpse of the girl she used to be, I see the quiet pride as she meets my eyes then Rick’s with the small comfort that the two people she seems to be stuck eating lunch with haven’t seen her in one of her most private moments.

After I catch a brief smile Yolanda goes back to her food and the comfortable silence that used to belong to me and Rick extends to Yolanda and I hope that maybe one day, Yolanda will no longer be controlled by having trusted someone with her heart.

So the routine shifted, when Beth asked how the others were she got Rick’s usual answer and a little nod of acknowledgement from Yolanda, if Yolanda picked up on her mission to get Rick to eat she never mentioned it, however, Beth felt she might have her suspicions as whenever Beth offered up the extra food, she never took it.

The first time she had offered Rick her ‘father’s’ sandwich after Yolanda started sitting with them, he silently offered it towards Yolanda who gently shook her head, and Rick started devouring the sandwich, and Beth saw the knowing look in Yolanda’s eyes as they met hers, in silent agreement.

They now faced slightly more people with ill intentions, mostly directed at Yolanda, people who were thriving off of her fall out of the social hierarchy, but they never stuck around too long either getting bored or being intimidated off by a nasty look from Rick.  
They still weren't friends but a slight solidarity had formed between the three of them, with the knowledge that no one else would take them, they found solace in their quiet lunches together, they had the potential to be so much more to each other but for the moment Beth would take the small victories.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next up will be Courtney's arrival and definitely some JSA stuff.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We've now arrived in canon for Courtney's appearance.
> 
> Also thanks to the lovely comments they really make my day.

It was the end of October when the lunchtime routine that Beth had become accustomed to was destroyed. It started as it normally did with the small greetings and Beth giving Rick her ‘father’s’ sandwich as she simply couldn’t let the ham sit in her locker for the rest of the day and she didn’t want to just throw it out.

They’d been sitting in silence for a few minutes when Beth heard someone, she looked up and saw someone she didn’t recognise, which was a little odd as she knew practically everyone in her year group.

“Hi, I’m Courtney”, she said with a nervous smile.

“I’m Beth” I responded while hopefully putting on a welcoming smile.

Courtney looked across to Rick and Yolanda but neither of them responded, they just kept looking down at the table. Beth knew this behaviour could appear rude but given their respective reputation Beth could understand where they were coming from. Why let anyone get close when as soon as they hear who you are from other people they’ll turn on you.

I heard Courtney mumble a quiet “okay” to herself and really hoped that Rick and Yolanda hadn’t made too bad of a lasting impression, I didn’t want the comfortable atmosphere that had surrounded the table to disappear.

She sat down at least so she couldn’t have thought horribly of them, or she was desperate to get a seat, which Beth could understand far too well.

To my shock, after being sat for a few seconds Courtney asked, “So, what do you guys do for fun around here?”

As I looked around at the table I realised neither of the other two were going to say a word, so I guess it fell to me to explain.

“Oh, we’re not friends, this is the table for the singles.”

Courtney looked confused as her eyebrows knitted together, “The singles?” she asked.

“The losers” I stage whispered to her.

Before Courtney had a chance to say anything back to me Rick abruptly stood up while telling me to “Speak for myself” which was honestly some of the most words I had heard him say in one go that year.

His reaction worried me slightly, but I didn’t think it was too unusual from what I’d heard about his actions from other students and my parents about how he acted around the rest of the school and around the town. I would just have to keep a slightly closer eye on him to make sure he was fine.

As he was leaving the canteen I saw him swipe a box of biscuits or something from a trolley, which made me wonder if my occasional lunches were enough food to keep him going throughout the day.

The moment Rick had cleared the table Henry’s King and his friends pounced on the opportunity as I heard someone ask “You smell something?” which was when Henry King decided to lean onto their table getting far too close to Yolanda to grin in her face when he answered,

“Smells like slut” he jeered at Yolanda. Henry moved closer and asked if she had any more pictures to share and his friend joined in, the nerve of them. First, he destroys her life my weaponising Yolanda’s own body against her but now he still felt the need to hold it over her head.

Right it made him feel powerful, Beth realised it made him feel powerful to attack someone who already felt inferior because of his actions. Yolanda hadn’t said anything to Beth but she could see the fact that Yolanda still barely made eye contact, did everything in her power to draw less attention to herself in the corridors and almost everything about her slightly changed appearance from her hair which used to be free-flowing was now neatly placed in braids and her once bright clothing was replaced with muted colours all in the attempt to counteract Henry King’s attack.

I wanted to say something, I shouldn’t stand by while this happened, nobody should make someone feel that about themselves, no one deserved that, but before I could work up the nerve to stand up to them I heard Courtney cry, “Leave her alone.”

I gave her a slightly worried look as I knew she would be unaware of the battle she was facing in choosing to stand up to the Henry King.

“Oh hey, new girl” was all I heard Henry say before he reached over and grabbed Courtney’s phone off of the table before I knew what was happening Courtney was on her feet yelling and then she pushed out at Henry and all I could see was the food from the tray that Lucy the lunch lady was carrying as I heard the entire canteen go silent.

That was when Principal Bowen came over, taking Courtney with her to what Beth assumed would be her office. Poor Cortney it was her first day and she was already being labelled a trouble maker, at least she would definitely fit in at their table now.

Luckily Principal Bowen’s interruption had scared off the people bothering Yolanda and as Beth watched Courtney being escorted from the canteen she realised that their routine was never going to go back to normal.  
The next day Rick was nowhere to be seen as Beth approached the table and Yolanda didn’t reply to her usual greeting but she didn’t mind as she was going to call her mum during lunch and talk with her.

Beth had her usual conversation with her mum. They were talking about the food that Beth had cooked as she wanted her mother’s feedback when Courtney sat down next to Beth.  
Beth didn’t know how to really greet Courtney yet so she kept up her conversation with mum before having the best idea to call her dad and have a family meeting. She greeted her mum’s coworker Dr.King as he came up to the computer, just because she wasn’t overly friendly with his son didn’t mean that she couldn’t be nice to him.

Her mum asked about Cortney because she had seen her enter the frame, she’d never asked about Rick or Yolanda before, in fact, her parents had never asked her about who she sat with at lunch, must have just skipped their busy minds she realised.

My parents ended the call with the suggestion to talk to Courtney but she seemed to be staring at Yolanda, this lasted for a little while before Yolanda said something and walked off, leaving me and Courtney at the table.

Courtney didn’t seem to mind talking so I kept up most of the conversation while she nodded along. As the bell rang for us to get to class and Courtney swiftly moved from the table I realised that the balance of the singles’ table or the losers’ table as it was more commonly known had been disrupted by Courtney’s arrival.

Beth just hoped that hardly anything would change.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The final chapter will be them as the JSA.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally managed to finish a fic rather than start running with a new idea and I am extremely proud of myself.

Beth was wrong change was good, change meant that when she arrived at the table she was greeted by her friends smiles and hellos, change meant that Rick accepted the food for what it was, a kind act by a friend, change meant that Yolanda smiled and talked passionately about her interests. Change meant that Beth wasn’t alone.

It had been a month since they had stopped the I.S.A from brainwashing millions of people and killing a fair amount too. Chuck had been fixed and Beth was learning how to work with him, even better than they had before. Yolanda had been teaching her some boxing moves so that if she ever ended up in a situation as she did with Icicle she at least had some hope of defending herself. Courtney had joined Yolanda in Beth’s training and had taught both of them some basic gymnastic movements to round out their training. Rick sometimes joined them, Beth looked forward to the training sessions as it helped them all bond and work together better as a team.

They mostly hung out together at the pit stop for J.S.A work but, Mr Dugan said that the best way to fight together would be to trust each other, and turns out trust meant quite a few movie nights at the Whitmore-Dugan household. 

However, it was lunch that Beth most enjoyed in school.

They no longer sat in silence with only Beth’s conversations with her parents, lunch was filled with conversations about schoolwork, hobbies and some considerably bad secret code about J.S.A work (just in case any of their other classmates turned out to be supervillains/ children of supervillains.)

Courtesy had helped them all change and Beth was the happiest she had been in a long time. Yolanda still had a long way to go but there was a subtle confidence about her that she appeared to have lost for a small while. She joked and laughed and was always sitting close to one of them at lunch or practically led on top of all of them during a movie night. She stood up for herself when people confronted her in the halls and whenever the rest of the J.S.A heard something they made sure that the person never repeated that again, especially when Rick and Courtney teamed up.

Beth hadn’t really known Courtney before but in the time that she had been Stargirl she had seen Court do amazing things and Beth knew that this was just the beginning for her and that Courtney Whitmore would do great things, they all would. Perhaps Courtney had already done the greatest thing of all, she had bought them all together.

And Rick Tyler, he had probably changed the most out of everyone at the table, gone was this lonely boy striking out against everything and everyone around him replaced with a man who would always fight fiercely for his friends, no matter the cause.

He also might be the person Beth herself had grown closest to in their small group, their long nights working together at the pit stop allowing them to get to know each other. It was strange she had sat next to him for over a year alone and they could have talked over all that time. Turns out fighting a team of supervillains can really and truly break the ice.

For Beth herself, she hadn’t actually changed that much, except for the fact she had friends and it didn’t change who she was just how she felt. Beth now realised that while her parents cared for her they were never her friends because her parents never made her feel like this, understood, heard and loved by choice not just because they were her family. It felt amazing to have people she could actually turn to her and would always listen to her, and who she would always listen to.

It was strange to think that maybe the I.S.A could have succeeded if it weren’t for the fact that Courtney chose to sit at their table and give them the means to become actual heroes, but the fact was she did and they had won. There would always be more villains for them to fight but right now in this moment, they were simply four highschoolers enjoying their lunch at what was known only to them as the Justice Society of America’s table.

Unbeknown to Beth was the significance in that they had picked the only round table in the entire cafeteria, like the original J.S.A they shared a round table where they were all equals, everyone’s ideas mattered just as much as the person they sat next to. 

This small lunch table currently held the next generation of great heroes, they would go on to do great things, but right now there is chemistry homework to be done and an English speech to think about.

**Author's Note:**

> It starts off pre-canon as I want to see a sort of bond that the other three had before Courtney arrives as they must have sat at the table together for a while. 
> 
> Next chapter will probably be Yolanda joining the table.


End file.
